


I'll Wipe Away Your Tears

by Lyli



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Cheese, Fluff and Angst, M/M, see what I mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 19:00:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7118617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyli/pseuds/Lyli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luffy is a young man waking up from a coma. He's an amnesic. Law is his doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Wipe Away Your Tears

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for LawLu week day 8, AU! Not really an interesting AU, just...it's not canonverse and yeah...
> 
> Also maybe day 5, memory...

Doctor Trafalgar Law knocked three times on the door of the room 504 before entering. It was an habit of his to announce his presence but he did not actually need the patient’s approval to enter.

Room 504 was huge despite being intended for only one person. Not much furniture aside from an armchair and of course the large bed right in the middle on which was sitting the patient.

It was a young man. He was sitting straight but he kept his glance lowered. Upon approaching Law noticed he was crying. His messy hair was sticking to his reddened cheeks. He was sobbing quietly.

“Are you okay?” Law asked. It was not something he usually did. He wanted to grab the other’s attention because he was ignoring him completely.

“This is crazy…All of this…” the other replied, voice hoarse from too much crying.

“Waking up after six months of coma with this few damages is a true miracle indeed. I am Doctor Trafalgar Law. I’ll be the one in charge of taking care of regular check-ups before you’re discharged. Can you tell me your name?”

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Did you remember it?”

“No, I was told.”

“I see.”

The 18 years old boy had been transferred there early in the morning. He had woken up from a six-month long coma after a car accident and he apparently had no memory left from before.

“There was a group of people who went to see me this morning.” Luffy explained. “They told me they were my friends and that they had not left my side for those six months, yet I couldn’t even tell who they were. Not a clue. And when I saw these people cry I just…”

He began sobbing loudly.

“Amnesia after such a trauma is nothing uncommon. Sometimes it only lasts for a very short while, sometimes the process is longer and even requires the help of your friends and family to recover your memory by showing pictures, bringing you to important places and so on…”

“Is there a possibility that I won’t ever get my memory back?” Luffy interrupted.

“Of course, everything is possible.” Law sighed. He had to constantly walk on the thin line between reassuring the patient and telling him the truth.  “I am just saying that it’s not something to be afraid of.  Everything could be back tomorrow.”

With such a miraculous case, it was not easy to anticipate how the patient’s state would progress so Law could not give him a clear answer. Furthermore amnesic patients are quite hard to deal with. Most of them fear uncertainty, break down completely from not remembering their loved ones, feeling like empty shells who people desperately try to fill.

Law wanted to avoid this at all costs. He was a very diligent doctor.

Luffy nodded and sniffed.

Law got closer and grabbed his face, forcing him to face him.

“Hey. Cheer up, okay? I’ll make sure to tell your friends what they need to do to help you recover.”

_And as long as there’s life there’s hope, or some bullshit._

Luffy froze for a second before nodding again. He closed his eyes slowly as the doctor wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes.

“I’ll come back later.” He assured before leaving the room.

What an impressing man, Luffy thought. He was tall, he had dark eyes and his hand were covered in tattoos. He looked cold, nothing like a caring doctor. Yet he behaved like one.

 

 

He did not recover his memory the next day. He was still feeling pretty distressed but nothing as bad as the day he arrived there.

It was his first rehab day, he had to start over learning how to walk and do basic tasks properly since spending six months without moving had changed his muscles into custard, according to the nurse’s explanations.

He found it the hard way by trying to stand up without waiting for support.

Rehab consisted for now in making slow movements with his legs and arms and maybe some assisted walking. Since he was had not been injured, it would not take long before he could do everything properly again.

Luffy smiled brightly while thinking about running and jumping around outside.

“Are you happy to be here?” the woman helping him extending his legs asked while continuing her gentle motions.

“Yes!” He was not sure why.

“That’s good then. I’ve heard people say that this is sad to be here, having to go through all of this to get your abilities back.” She gestured the large room where a dozen of patients like him were taking various exercises. “But everyone here is on the path of recovery, it’s full of hope. I think it’s great.”

She smiled at Luffy and it made him feel slightly nostalgic.

“Sorry, I may have said too much.”

“Not at all, it’s fine…”

He looked around in the room and all the different people in the same situation as him. In the back, through the window opening on the corridor, he saw his doctor walking fast as if he was in a hurry. Luffy was disappointed that he did not even look in his direction.

After that, he came back to his room for visiting hours.

A young woman came that day. She was a ginger, her face was covered in freckles. She brought Luffy a bouquet of flowers which she put on the stand next to the bed.

“Way to make this creepy room livelier!” she said. She turned to face Luffy who was smiling at her remark. “I saw you yesterday. Do you remember me?”

“Yeah, you’re Nami, right?”

“Yes.”

She sat on the edge of the bed and stroke his cheek affectionately.

“I’m so happy you’re alive.”

A knot formed in Luffy’s stomach. He was still weak to this kind of remark, he assumed because of the traumatic experience that was his accident.

“The doctor told me I could get my memory back if you guys helped me. You will, right?”

“Of course! And I think we can start now.” She declared as she reached into her baby blue tote bag.

She pulled out an outworn straw hat with a simple red band around. “Here” she said, handing it to him. “This is yours. We forgot to bring it to you yesterday.”

Luffy’s eyes shined with excitement. “Thank you! Ah it really feels familiar. I can’t really explain it, but…!” He raised it over his head before pushing it down on his head. It was his hat, no doubt. He had it for a long time and it was his most precious object.

“I bet it does!” Nami approved, chuckling.

“Was it given to me by someone important?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorta. Can you remember it?”

“Not really, this is just a feeling that I have.”

“It was a guy in your neighbourhood when you were a kid he was like your hero I guess? He saved you from wild dogs who had attacked you.”

“Sounds like a cool guy!”

Just like that he felt that his doctor’s words were true and that he would be able to recover easily. He asked a lot of questions to Nami, about her, how they met, and about himself too.

“Did I use to like sports?” he asked eventually.

“Yes! It’s not like you were very committed, playing in a club or something but you were always running and jumping around. Sometimes you went out of a run in the park at very improbable hours too.”

“I figured that myself!”

“Really?” she looked amused.

“Yeah, before during rehab I felt that I really wanted to go outside and run, you know? For no reason.”

“You haven’t changed at all.”

They kept talking and talking until Nami said she had to leave. She promised to come back soon with pictures but he had to bear with his other friends in the meantime. She also told him that the guy with the long nose – Usopp – was the one who could inform him the best about his childhood.

When she stood up, someone knocked on the door, three times.

Law entered the room. He apologized when he saw that the guest was still in here. The redhead walked towards the door and she crossed eyes with the doctor, she literally pierced through him with her green orbs. She waved to Luffy before shaking her head with attitude, jingling her wide earrings.

She walked past Law, pushing his shoulder. The sound of here high heels clicking against the tiles was more and more distant.

He closed the door.

“Is she your friend? Or perhaps your girlfriend?”

“My friend. I haven’t asked but it’s obvious we’re not in that kind of relationship.”

“Hm, I wonder…”

“Hey doc, look!” Luffy pointed to the straw hat still on his head. “I think this is an important part of me. Maybe tomorrow I’ll remember everything thanks to it!”

“Everything is possible.” Law said once again. He approached Luffy and pinched his cheek.

“Say…” Luffy began, suddenly quieter. “Why didn’t you come to see me during my rehab session?”

“Because I had other patients to take care of at that time. Besides you didn’t really need me, did you?”

“No…”

“Whenever you need me, I’ll be there for you.” He playfully took Luffy’s hat off to ruffle his hair before putting it back into place.

 

 

The next day, in the morning, Law went to see Luffy to indicate him the schedule for his upcoming medical exams. Luffy eagerly started talking about how he woke up remembering about the man who gave him the hat.

Law found his way of telling stories endearing. The way his eyes sparkled and his big hand gestures. He couldn’t help but be overly aware of whatever the younger did.

Law thought about Luffy a lot during the day.

In the evening, he went to see him again, making sure visiting hours were over. But Luffy had already lost all of his joy and was crying again.

“What happened?” Law asked.

“Today I asked about my family and they told me about my brother. He died six months ago, he was in the same accident as me.”

Why was life so hard on this kid, he didn’t know, but Law felt the urge to wipe away the tears on his face.

“They said they didn’t want to say right after I’d woken up but since I lost my memory they didn’t want to hide it from me either.” He added. “It hurts.”

This time Law hugged him and didn’t say a word. There was silence and then Luffy spoke again.

“You are strange, doc.”

“Am I? I want to cheer you up, but I’m not suited to heal hearts.”

_I break them._

“I feel really comforted around you, though.”

“Then I fulfilled my mission.”

He kissed Luffy’s forehead this time. No complains.

 

 

Luffy turned out to be a lot louder and livelier than what his gloomy appearance on the first day had foreshadowed. He ate like ten and he was a handful for nurses. His friends seemed happy to see him so vigorous.

In the hospital though, the one he liked to spend time with the most was Law. He liked to tell him about what he talked with his friends, how well he was progressing during rehab as well as part of his memory that he progressively recovered. Hey doc, guess what, I remember the face of my history teacher in high school. You know what, I remember I live near a flower shop.

Luffy felt abnormally attracted to the doctor. He talked about it to one of his friends and they had joked saying he just became confused because he was his was his caretaker.

It’s true, Trafalgar Law was caring. Too caring. The man himself knew it and felt guilty about it.

“What’s the deal with room 504? You’re always spending so much time in there! Is he really so interesting, that amnesic?” A colleague remarked and made Law cringe internally.

“I guess you could say he’s very cute.”

“Don’t go falling for a patient, that’s so unlike you.”

_You’re mistaken._

 

Yet he was so distant. Luffy sensed it. He always justified himself by saying that it was part of his job as a doctor, caring for a patient, making them feel safe, comfortable. None of this was unnecessary affection, was it?

Three weeks after the patient’s arrival, Law made the mistake to enter before the end of visiting hours.

Inside room 504 was Luffy and a green haired fellow. Law froze when the latter stared. He stood up from the armchair and reached for the doctor’s collar in a split second. “What are you doing here?!” he yelled.

“I’m working here.” Law replied and arched an eyebrow.

“What? Zoro what’s wrong? So you know each other?”

“Just acquaintances.” The assailant specified.  

Law left the room and waited outside that the visitor was finished before coming back.

As usual, Luffy told him about his progress. It was part of their routine. He did not mention the incident for before.

He grabbed Law’s arm to drag him closer and cuddled up to him. He tried to convey his feelings the best he could.

“Luffy, who am I?” Law blurted out.

“Uh? You’re my doctor, Trafalgar Law. Why? My memory works well now, you know.”

“I know, that’s great.”

And just with that, he ruffled his hair and smiled faintly.

Come to think of it, Luffy had never really seen him smile. He felt his heart sink when he realised what the other meant and let his arm go.

“You’re just trying to tell me that I’m just another patient to you?”

Law’s expression was unreadable. “That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

“Then you’re like this with everyone else?”

_Shut up, history doesn’t need to repeat itself._

“I’m just being selfish, I don’t why I’m like this but I don’t know why you act this way either!” Luffy cried out and grabbed the white gown again, pulling the other’s face close to his. He stared into his eyes in a desperate attempt to understand what the doctor could think.

Law closed his eyes shook him away. “If my behaviour bothers you, I think it’s better for me to leave.”

 

 

A month in, and Luffy was soon to be discharged. He barely talked to Law anymore. But on that day, something unusual happened as he witnessed a patient harassing a nurse. Luffy didn’t think twice before interfering and he punched the guy’s face which resulted in the other punching him back and they broke into a fight. A few people had to stop them.

“Usopp, am I a violent guy?” he asked later to his visitor, holding gauze on his swollen cheek.

“I guess you do get easily provoked into a fight…Let me tell you, back in high school you really started to get on people’s nerves you know, you would pick fight against a whole group of punks just because they pissed you off. So you spent as much time in the nurse office as in class.”

Luffy’s mind drew a blank. “The nurse office?”

Usopp covered his mouth. “Ugh. Yeah, the nurse office. Did I say something strange?”

“No…”

Luffy waited for Law to come to his room that night, but a nurse came instead.

He regretted being so selfish, now he had lost everything. He wanted to see him badly.

But Law never showed up, not the next day nor the day after and then it was time for Luffy to leave the hospital for good.

 

 

During these last days, his memories came back clearer and clearer. He had a full recollection of his high school days which actually weren’t so long ago.

In the end, he wouldn’t regret the white nakedness of the walls, the smell of detergent and the white gowns passing like ghosts in the corridors.

He took a few steps outside the entrance when a voice stopped him from going further.

“Luffy. I’m sorry for acting this way towards you. I want you to know that…”

“Why?” Luffy interrupted. He turned around to face a confused Law and ran to him. “Why didn’t you tell me it was you? Law!”

He jumped on him and wrapped his arms around his neck. His body had moved on his own.

“You rememb…”

“I thought I was never going to see you again! You helped me so much back then, why did you have to leave me like that?” Luffy’s tears started to roll down. Law grabbed his face with shaky hands and tried desperately to make them stop.

“Because I’m a piece of shit who couldn’t make the right decision at the right moment. All of your friend hate me. You should too.” Law buried his face in Luffy’s neck.

“I can’t! I can’t hate you because I love you!”

Law hugged tightly. He was sorry for everything and he realised that he was about to make another big mistake. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, he kept whimpering.

Luffy took Law’s face in his hands and kissed him. Salty teary kiss.

“The high school nurse and the strange doctor, I like them both.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so...wanted to finish it for lawlu day. But it's 3 am, almost. anyways Happy lawlu day <3


End file.
